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I am now deciding if I should get Art of Astonishment by Paul Harris (vol. 1-3) or the Daniel Garcia project DVD set. I just finished with On The Spot, and love it to death now. I have never really had any real magic books, and am wondering if the material on Art of Astonishment is very good, and is easy to learn. I have heard great things about it, and it sounds very good. But I'm still not sure if I should stick with DVD's (a.k.a Danny Garcia Project). any comments about either one would be very great.

the Paul Harris books are very good, skill levels vary but i strongly recommend these. But i still think the best book is John Bannon's Smoke and Mirrors.

The Art of Astonishment series are exceptional value, and the difficulty/skill levels vary from the most simple to fairly complicated. They're mainly card effects, with a few others thrown in too. For me, they've been a great introduction to real, usable 'other' (by that, I mean 'non-card') magic.

I work in a restaurant and there is an effect in one of the books that details an EXTREMELY simple effect whereby you place a washer in the top of a bottle (it's too big to fall in) The washer's hole is too small for your pen to fit through. However, when you wrap a £ note around the bottle's neck, thus covering the washer, the pen will slide straight through the washer into the bottle! Remove the £ note, and the washer is still in place, and it's still too small to allow the pen through! Brilliant!

Paul Harris' writing on his concept of magic and astonishemtn also makes for brilliant reading.

You can not fail to learn good magic from these books.

My personal fave book is "The Dave Campbell Legacy" But I have also got Art of Astonishment Vol. 1. This is my confession, I have not read it yet. I have not opened it yet either. I am in the process of moving and its in storage. It will be the first thing I do when I move into new house on Friday. (The painting of the Kitchen will have to wait!)

jmsbond35,

Although all of the suggestions made so far are terrific books, if you have no books at all and want to start your magic library, may I suggest some of the following classic texts:

Card Magic:
Hugard and Braue: ROYAL ROAD TO CARD MAGIC
Hugard and Braue: EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE
Erdnase: EXPERT AT THE CARD TABLE
Giobbi: THE CARD COLLEGE SERIES

Coin Magic:
J.B. Bobo: MODERN COIN MAGIC

General:
Tarbell: THE TARBELL COURSE
Hay: THE AMATEUR MAGICIAN’S HANDBOOK
Ganson: THE DAI VERNON BOOK OF MAGIC
Hilliard: GREATER MAGIC
Hugard: MODERN MAGIC MANUAL
Mark Wilson’s COMPLETE COURSE IN MAGIC

Performance Theory:
Maskelyne and Devant: OUR MAGIC,
Fitzkee (Trilogy) :
SHOWMANSHIP FOR MAGICIANS,
MAGIC BY MISDIRECTION
THE TRICK BRAIN
Nelms: MAGIC AND SHOWMANSHIP

Some might argue that these books are dated. Granted, some of the language may be dated and you might not like some of the tricks described, but the theoretical information is solid in these books. More modern books have been written that contain terrific information, but the books I have listed have become classics for a reason: the information and wisdom contained in them is timeless.

This list is far from complete, but in my opinion, these books should be in every serious student of the art’s library.

Regards,
Gerald

jmsbond35,

BTW: You might want to do a search for "essential books" and similar topics. Many people on this site have good ideas about building your magic library.

Regards,
Gerald